Yarmouk University hosted the activities of the introductory day for the Erasmus+ Program, which aims at presenting the opportunities for cooperation between various institutions concerned with education, training, and youth in the northern region. The gathering was organized by the National Erasmus+ Office in cooperation with the Department of International Relations and Projects at the University. The President of the University, Professor Islam Massad, delivered a speech during the opening of the activities, where he welcomed the participants to Yarmouk pointing out that the University has sixteen faculties that offer one hundred and fifty-eight programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels including about forty thousand students among whom outstand five thousand male and female students from forty-five Arab and international countries. Massad then stressed the importance of the Erasmus+ Program and the extent of its positive impact on students and members of the teaching and administrative staff at the cognitive level as well as their awareness, openness, and familiarity with different cultures and environments. He also called on those in charge of the national Erasmus Program to keep encouraging students in Jordanian universities to increase their awareness and knowledge of the opportunities offered for them by the Erasmus+ program.
In return, the Director of the Education Program at the European Union Delegation to Jordan, Ines Alves, delivered a speech in which she referred to the distinguished academic and research level of Yarmouk University as noted last October by the European Union Ambassador, Pierre-Christophe Chatzisavas, during his visit to the University. Alves pointed out that the year 2022 witnessed a distinguished cooperation between the European Union and Jordan and that the priorities adopted then frame the cooperation of the two sides until 2027. She also stressed that the Erasmus+ Program is the leading Program of the European Union in higher education, vocational training, and youth. She then explained that the Program addresses individual needs and the needs and capabilities of organizations as well, which potentially contributes to social and economic development of Jordan and enhances the quality and importance of higher education and vocational education and training.
The director of the National Erasmus+ Office in Jordan, Dr. Ahmed Abu Al-Haijah, explained that the Erasmus+ Program includes three main activities targeting individuals (professors, administrators, and students), educational institutions, civil society organizations, and higher education systems. Listing the types of countries participating in Erasmus+ programs, including those that fund the program, he explained that the program Capacity Building in Higher Education (CBHE) is one of the main programs of Erasmus+ and is concerned with higher education, youth, education and vocational training. The objectives of (CBHE) focus on the needs of the partner countries in the Project, align with the priorities of those countries to maximize the benefits such countries obtain from the Project. Finally, he explained how to join the program and the steps and conditions that must be followed to write and submit a project proposal to ensure obtaining funding.
The introductory day also included discussing topics of cooperation between organizations and institutions, capacity building projects for young people and workers in higher education and vocational and technical training, Erasmus-Mundus activities, in addition to Academic Mobility Program and John Monnet Program in the field of higher education.
